"[H]ere's something else that's weird but true: in the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.
And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship [...] is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth.
Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already - it's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness."
— David Foster Wallace
We consume, and we are consumed.
We take in, absorb, and devour. And we give ourselves and are devoured.
Right now, you are consuming this text on your screen. As you do that, obscure algorithms are devouring your every tap and swipe, expanding their ever-growing understanding of what makes you tick.
We know that we consume, even if we’re not always conscious when we do it. But have forgotten that we are always being consumed as well — that there are gods out there, big and small, that we worship and give ourselves to.
So we must choose our gods wisely. We must choose the direction of our devotion with discernment. If we offer ourselves up — if we devote our time and energy to that which connects us to our innate wholeness, then paradoxically, that which we burn ourselves up for will recharge and restore us. Anything else will eat us alive.
Connecting to our innate wholeness isn’t always going to feel good or nice, but it will always feel right. Even when you feel like you’re in the meat grinder, you will know it in your bones that you will be okay. Even if you’re going through hell, you will know it in your heart that heaven holds you at every step.
Who do you worship? Who's your god?
It matters that you Know.
Even wordlessly.
Perhaps only wordlessly.
Can you feel their sacred presence in your life?
As you navigate life, do you feel held, contained, and directed?
Are you a clear channel to have your god's work done through you?
What does your god ask of you? And what do you offer?
It matters. It is real.
Perhaps the most real thing there is…